In Good Company: Chapter 21

“What?” I ask, turning to face Cal. I didn’t realize how close he’d gotten, but now that we’re face-to-face, the distance between our bodies seems so small.

It doesn’t seem to bother Cal. He keeps his determined eyes on me. “Teach me to cook and record it. You don’t have to muster up the courage to ask anyone because I’m offering myself.”

I shake my head. My cheeks heat with embarrassment that he felt obligated to offer to begin with. “Cal, you’re busy. You’re not taking time out of your day so I can teach you to cook for a silly little video.”

The strong muscles of his cheek feather underneath his skin as he angrily clenches his jaw. “What have I said about calling anything to do with your dreams silly?”

My mouth snaps shut for a moment. I don’t know how to respond to him. I wasn’t trying to diminish my dreams at all with my comment. It was supposed to be funny. He has far better things to do than take time to help me record a video. “I’ll ask someone else. I’m sure Charlotte will do it with me. I just haven’t asked.”

Cal takes another step closer. My heart leaps in my chest with adrenaline. He’s so close that our bodies are almost touching. It wouldn’t feel so intimate if either of us wore more clothing, but the lack of anything more than swimsuits between us makes the proximity so much…more.

“I don’t want you to ask anyone else.” His words come out slow and composed until the very end, where they break off with the mention of other people.

“I can’t ask you to help me.” My words come out so quietly. I’m too focused on the closeness of our bodies to form coherent thoughts.

Cal’s blue eyes bore into mine. “You didn’t ask. I offered.” His eyes cut from mine and travel over my skin.

My breath hitches. He’s so close, and the pool house is so quiet that I wonder if he can hear the pounding of my heart. My skin breaks out in goosebumps under his intense stare.

“Cal, you really d⁠—”

Before I can finish my protest, he presses two of his fingers to my lips. The pads are rough against my sensitive skin. He drags them across slowly, making my pulse spike and my thighs shake with desire.

“It’s settled. We’ll start next week,” he states, his voice husky. “I’m looking forward to it.”

I can’t say anything. Not with him this close.

Time seems to stand still as his eyes stay locked with mine. The sun shines in through the small window behind me. Luckily, the pool house faces in a direction that shields us from the view of anyone at the party.

“Lucy.” Cal groans, his gaze falling to my lips.

I can’t help it. My lips part in desire at the sound of my name in his husky voice.

He traces over my lips, intently staring at them like he’s starved.

“We shouldn’t,” I mutter, knowing exactly what’s going through his mind. It’s the same thing that’s going through mine.

All I can think about is kissing him. What would his lips feel like against mine? Would they be strong and demanding or soft and gentle?

Cal’s fingers move from my lips, but they don’t leave my body.

They run down my throat. He presses his fingertips to my racing pulse and leaves them there for a moment. I should be embarrassed that he can obviously feel my reaction to him, but I’m too caught up in the way he stares at me to feel anything but pure desire.

“We shouldn’t do this.” His tone is normally confident and full of conviction. Right now, it isn’t. It sounds like he doesn’t even believe the words he’s saying.

“Yeah, we shouldn’t,” I echo, my back arching with pleasure when he runs his fingertips along the swell of my breast.

“This pink bikini has taunted me all day.” He stares, tracing along the string between my breasts.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, not knowing what else to say.

This is inappropriate for so many reasons.

But I want to kiss him—desperately.

The rough skin of his fingertips drags along my ribs as he continues to torture me in the most delicious of ways.

Screams of joy and laughter break out from outside the pool house, but neither Cal nor I move to stop. We’re both too caught up in what’s happening right here between us.

My head falls back as a faint moan falls from my lips when Cal’s fingertips dance along my hip.

“These strings especially. The thought that one simple tug at either bow on your hip and they’d be off drove me wild. It still does…and it shouldn’t.”

I close my eyes, trying to muster up the courage to stop this. Not because that’s what I want but because it’s the right thing to do. “Cal,” I whisper, my voice hoarse. “What about Oliver?”

Cal’s fingers disappear from my skin in an instant. I open my eyes to find his face closer to mine. The crystal-blue color of his eyes is clouded with what looks like anger. “What about him?”

I shift on my feet, wondering if I shouldn’t have said his brother’s name at all. It’s the effect Cal has on me. I can’t think straight and said the first excuse that came to my mind as to why we should stop.

“Lucy.” My name comes out like a growl. He leans closer, grabbing the counter on either side of my hips.

God, he’s so close.

He smells like sunscreen and his cologne, a mixture that’s overtaking my senses.

“What?”

“Don’t talk about my brother when I’m seconds away from finally kissing you after I’ve been thinking about doing it for days…maybe even weeks.”

Before I can respond, he grabs me by the hips and places me on the edge of the counter. It’s cold against my skin, but his heated stare does plenty to keep me warm.

My skin flushes as his words sink in. Has he really been thinking about kissing me for that long?

Should I feel bad for wanting the same?

So many thoughts run through my mind as Cal’s fingertips dig into my skin.

“You’ve wanted to kiss me before today?” My words come out breathier than I intended them to, but I can’t help it. My heart beats so fast and so erratically it feels like it might just beat right out of my chest. It feels like my thoughts are jumbled, and the only thing that makes sense is the heated look in Cal’s eyes and the possessive way his fingertips brand my skin.

“Much to my dismay…yes.” Cal spreads my thighs open before stepping between them. I try not to stare at the obvious bulge in his swim trunks. Wetness pools between my thighs at the realization his reaction is because of me.

“Really?” The word leaves my mouth before I can think better of it. He’s just often so composed it’s hard to know what’s going through his head. I’ve felt a connection with him, one I wasn’t expecting but can’t deny. I just didn’t know he was feeling the same.

His thumbs trace circles along my inner thighs, making my nerve endings combust with pure need for him. His hands are dangerously close to the most intimate part of me. There isn’t much fabric between us. It’d be easy for him to slip his fingers into my bikini bottoms.

Cal leans in close, our faces now just inches apart. His lips are so close all I’d have to do is arch my neck a little to bring our lips together.

“From the moment you pretended not to recognize me, I was interested in knowing more about you. I wanted to find out what led you here to the Hamptons, but with every discussion we have, I’ve become interested in so many other things about you, too.”

A small moan falls from my lips when his fingers reach up and tangle in my hair. He weaves his fingers through the long, wet strands and uses his grip to tilt my face up, making it so our lips almost graze each other.

“Like what?” I breathe. I feel dizzy with the anticipation of kissing him.

“Lucy Rae, there are so many things about you that I’m interested in. But right now, there are two I can’t stop thinking about.”

“And what are those?”

“I’m dying to know what you taste like,” he answers, his voice hoarse. “And even more, I want to know if you’re going to keep giving me excuses or if you’re going to give in to what you want and let me kiss you.”

I know this isn’t a good idea. There’s a list of reasons why I shouldn’t let Callahan Hastings kiss me. None of them seem good enough to deny myself what I want in this moment.

It can be only once. One little taste, and then we can create boundaries.

With a deep breath, I meet his blue eyes before wetting my lips. “Close the distance and find out.”